John Wells
John Wells
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionProducer
Date of Birth28 May 1956
CountryUnited States of America
material requires
You have to have wonderful actors for material, particularly difficult material that requires complicated performances.
both certain children head kids laugh learn looked move people smile studying time ways wife
Both of our children are adopted, and my wife and I didn't go out of ways to find kids that looked like us. We were just happy to have some kids. And people tell me all the time that they look like us, and that's because they learn to smile and laugh and move their head a certain way from studying their parents' faces.
family grew humor none painless power
I grew up in a family that was very barbed and difficult, and there was a lot of humor. None of it was painless humor. All of it was at someone else's expense. It was kind of always about power.
arrogance continue great horrible looking
One of the great things and one of the horrible things about the American character is this extraordinary optimism and arrogance that everything will continue to be great and keep looking up.
experience
My experience has been that actors always want to be directed.
came colored
I think we all are kind of colored by whatever we were raised with or what we came up believing in.
basic cable harder lots material pay places sell television
It is harder to get adult, character-driven material on television than it used to be, but there are lots of other places that you can go to sell it. If you can do it for basic cable or pay cable, we have those outlets.
fortunate received
I was very fortunate in all of my career in television to have a lot of things that received a lot of awards recognition.
became carnegie design directing
I was a directing student and a production design student at Carnegie Mellon. I went in as a production design student and became a directing student.
companies demonize leads reasons stock
You can demonize Goldman Sachs all you want, and I'm sure there are reasons to do it. But the real pressure is all of us pressuring the companies for stock returns, and that leads to all kinds of decisions.
believer collective gets unions
I'm a big believer in the value of labor unions and with what collective effort gets people.
characters creating love sitting
I love writing, and I love the solitude of the writing, in that you're just sitting there creating something from nothing, or a new story for characters you love and care about.
love trained
I love working with actors, and it's all been based on my being trained in the theater.
If you don't have nerves and a little trepidation about any new project, then I don't think you're really alive.